ASSAULT CHARGEDTwo Warwick men were charged with assault on Dec. 17 after a neighbor told police he was attacked in the parking lot of the Family Dollar store in Meadowbrook Plaza. Officer Manuel Pacheco reported that a witness told him he saw the victim getting assaulted by two men around 5:15. He said another officer was out with the victim who said he had a problem with the two men who attacked him because he confronted one of them about stealing some tools from the basement of the house they shared on Mohawk Avenue. The victim said the other man and his friend got out of their pickup truck and attacked him after he questioned him about a Sawzall tool that was missing from the basement. The victim told police the accused man went to the back of the truck and pulled out the Sawzall, showed it to him and then said, he’ll “never get it back now,” before placing it in the bed of his white Ford pickup.Pacheco and another officer saw the suspect pickup on Warwick Avenue and pulled it over near the Dockside market. Pacheco said dispatch cautioned that the suspect had a record of weapons charges and they ordered both men out of the pickup and searched the owner for weapons. He said the owner claimed that he was the one who was attacked and that he gave the victim his Sawzall back. Pacheco said both men in the pickup had cut and injured knuckles and they found the Sawzall in the back of the truck, contradicting what the owner of the pickup told them. Joseph W. Bennett, 52, of 47 Mohawk Ave. was arrested and charged with assault, receiving stolen goods, being a habitual offender because of the number of prior larceny convictions on his record and was held as a probation violator. He was also charged with possession of a controlled substance. His companion, Steven M. Logan, 23, of the same address was charged with simple assault and then released with a summons for District Court.

SHOPLIFTINGOfficer Eric Lima reported he was dispatched to the Warwick Mall for a shoplifting arrest at the Claire’s store on Dec. 19. Sgt. Scott Robillard was working a detail and informed Lima that the suspect was accused of stealing 35 articles of jewelry and a hat worth a total of $298.50 from the store. The manager of the store said they saw the woman put the items in a shopping bag and walk out of the store without paying for the goods. Sarah Sargeant, 18, of 129 Everleth Ave. in Warwick was also charged with possession of 23 clonazepam pills she did not have a prescription for and held for the Bail Commissioner.Officer Stephen Major arrested a woman at Macy’s in the Warwick Mall on Dec. 21 after loss prevention at the store told him she concealed and stole 12 items from the store that were worth a total of $485.66. Hermine Kotoyan, 52, of 1658 Broad St. in Cranston was later released with a summons for District Court.Officer Jacob Elderkin reported he was dispatched to the Bath and Body Works at the Warwick Mall for a pair of shoplifters accused of stealing 12 items worth a total of $302.28 on Dec. 17. A security guard told Elderkin the pair was stopped when they walked out of the store with bottles of cologne they concealed in shopping bags. Security said the man placed the items in the shopping bags but the female was well aware of what he was doing and walked out with the goods. A female employee chased the pair and a Mall security guard stopped them. Desiree Ellingwood, 24, of 26 River St. in West Warwick and Raymond L. Ellingwood, 42, of the same address, were charged with shoplifting and later released with summonses. Leeann Solomon, 32, of 145 Essex Rd. in Warwick was charged with stealing $126.55 worth of assorted office supplies at the Staples store on Post Road on Dec. 11. She was later released with a summons.Zoila C. Portillo, 31, of 113 Tiernan Ave. in Warwick was charged with shoplifting on Dec. 16 after Macy’s loss prevention told police she walked out of the store without paying for $162 worth of cologne sets. She was later released with a summons.

DUI AND REFUSALOfficer Jamey Petit reported stopping a car he saw tailgating another car on Veterans Memorial Drive around 3:10 a.m. on Dec. 22. He said they turned onto Centerville Road and the car continued to follow the car in front so closely that it looked like they were attached to each other. He said he pulled the car over and noticed that the driver appeared to be intoxicated and learned the car’s registration was suspended for not getting inspected. He said the driver failed a field sobriety test and was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and refused to take a breath test at headquarters. Nicholas Gebhart, 24, of 5580 Post Rd. in East Greenwich was charged with DUI, second offense, and refusal, first offense. He was later released to a sober adult.Officer John Curley reported he followed a car on East Avenue around 12:15 a.m. on Dec. 22 as it swerved from lane to lane and over the double yellow lines before he pulled it over near Toys R Us. He said the driver smelled strongly of alcohol and appeared to be intoxicated. He said the driver failed a field sobriety test and was arrested on suspicion of DUI. He said the driver refused a breath test at headquarters and was charged with DUI, refusal for a second time and laned roadway violations. John A. Muro, 64, of Lemac Street in Warwick was later released to a sober adult.Officer Hovsep Sarkisian reported he was on patrol around 1:42 a.m. on Dec. 17 when he clocked a car doing 47 miles per hour before it turned onto Route 37 west, where it was stopped. He said the driver admitted he had been drinking in Cranston and Warwick and was on his way home to East Greenwich. He said the driver failed a field sobriety test and was taken to headquarters where he refused to take a breath test. He said the driver got increasingly more belligerent and refused to call anyone to pick him up and was put in a cell, where he violently kicked and punched the toilet and sink. He said he told him to calm down and then left him there until he was out of sight and he began to attack the plumbing again. He said he was placed in restraints. He said he told the driver signing the summons was not an admission of guilt but he continued to refuse and continued to attack the plumbing and was placed in a padded cell for his own safety. He said the driver continued yelling and screaming and kicking the fixtures until they placed him back in the padded cell without his jacket, belt and suspenders. Scott J. Flanagan, 31, of 4591 Post Rd. was charged with driving on a suspended license, DUI, refusal, and speeding. Sarkisian said he was also charged with damaging city property after maintenance personnel had to pry open the door and reported the bottom of the door was bent and protruding from the frame.Officer Sarkisian reported stopping a car for operating erratically on Route 95 South around 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 19. He said the vehicle had been weaving in and out of its lane several times when he pulled it over. He said the driver appeared to be under the influence and failed a field sobriety test. Walter Davenport, 31, of 159 Gordon Ave. in Warwick was taken to headquarters where he refused a breath test. He was charged with DUI, refusal and laned roadway violations.Officer Dale Drowne reported an accident between a pickup and a fence on Namquid Drive around 2:45 p.m. on Dec. 15. He said he arrived to find a man sitting on a folding chair in the side yard of 338 Namquid. He said the truck took an abrupt turn off Namquid and went over the grass and a pile of patio bricks into a chain-link fence. He said the man smelled of alcohol and had difficulty balancing and walking and admitted he had blacked out and said he wasn’t sure what was wrong with him. He also said his knees were painful and he couldn’t do the walking test but Drowne reported he could not or would not do the finger to nose or nystagmus tests as well. Drowne said he advised the driver of his rights and had Rescue personnel check him out due to the fact he said he blacked out. He said Rescue decided to transport him to Kent Hospital for evaluation, but in the meantime a witness told Drowne the driver attempted to hide some alcohol containers that were in his truck but they were found by other officers. He said he followed the Rescue to the hospital where the driver refused to take a blood test. John F. Dwyer, 51, of 5 Drake Rd. in Warwick was charged with DUI and refusal and left in the custody of the medical staff.